Authorised by Academic Registrar, April 1996
Computers are everywhere - in business, industry, education, in the home. Computer science is concerned with the science of computing, dealing with the design and use of computers in all these areas. Computer science is a broad discipline, encompassing software design and programming, the actual computer machinery, the theoretical foundations, and all the applications of computing which pervade our modern society. Knowing the internal working of the machine leads to better programming. Knowing the theory of computing allows clearer thinking. This means computer scientists are able to apply their computing knowledge and general analytic skills to a wide range of tasks.
Computer scientists have a wide choice of career options; they can become programming specialists, systems designers, consultants or project managers. They can work in software development, customer support, industrial process control, information retrieval, or with communication networks. Computer scientists produce animations for the film industry (from Star Wars to Jurassic Park), support space shuttle missions, and work on exciting projects such as unlocking the human genetic code, virtual reality, and artificial intelligence.
The first-year subjects serve both as a general introduction to computer science and as a prerequisite for further studies. Thus they may be taken either by students wishing to major in computer science or by students whose major interest is in some other branch of science.
The first-semester subject CSC1011 covers basic programming skills and gives an introduction to computer science.
The second-semester subject CSC1030 develops the understanding of algorithms, data structures, and computer systems. CSC1030 together with twelve points of approved mathematics (or equivalent) is a prerequisite for further studies in computer science.
Students intending to major in computer science are strongly advised to take the mathematics subject MAT1130 (Graphs, logic and numbers) or MAP2032 (Discrete mathematics) prior to proceeding to third-year computer science. Students who do not develop a solid background in mathematics may be at a disadvantage in later years of the computer science course.
Second year aims to develop a firm foundation in the fundamental concepts of computer science, namely operating systems and computer architecture, foundations of computing, algorithm development and software engineering. In addition, it introduces new topics to broaden the student's view of computation and its applications.
The prerequisites for entry to second-year computer science are passes in CSC1030 and twelve points of approved mathematics subjects.
The core subjects CSC2040 (Science of programming), CSC2050 (Software engineering I) and any two of CSC2010 (Computer architecture), CSC2020 (Operating systems) and CSC2030 (Foundations of computing) must be passed before a student can proceed to third-year computer science. It is strongly recommended that all three of CSC2010, CSC2020 and CSC2030 be taken.
Optional second-year subjects available include CSC2061 (Digital logic) and CSC2070 (Numerical computing).
No third-year subject may be taken until the second-year core material has been completed successfully (CSC2040, CSC2050 and any two of CSC2010, CSC2020 and CSC2030).
Students wishing to major in computer science must take at least one project (CSC3010 or CSC3020) and at least five additional third-year computer science subjects. Students can choose to take a co-major in another discipline, or to spend the full third year in computer science.
The project is a corequisite for all third-year subjects but, with prior permission of the head of department, individual third-year subjects may be taken. A student is not permitted to count more than twenty points of computer science third-year subjects towards any degree unless points from the project are included.
The honours program is undertaken as an additional year by students enrolled in the Bachelor of Science. An honours degree in Computer Science opens many career opportunities. Students with honours are particularly sought after by employers, and can choose from more interesting research and development positions because of their extra skills and proven abilities. An honours degree also leads on to postgraduate study which is necessary for an academic career or a career in industrial research.
The substantial individual project allows students to undertake research under the supervision of an expert in the area. The project is selected from a list suggested by the department or is of the student's own devising, subject to approval. The project includes writing a thesis and an oral presentation and is worth forty per cent of the total mark for the honours year.
The remaining sixty per cent of the total mark comes from coursework. Coursework units are given by members of the department and visiting experts on their current areas of research. Honours students are required to take eight units out of those offered each year. Subject to approval, up to two of these units can be replaced by third-year computer science units or relevant third and fourth-year units from other departments.
Units taught in fourth year vary from year to year depending on the research interests of the staff. The following is a list of units taught in previous years: 1995 -- telecommunications, functional programming, VLSI design, causal reasoning, geometric modelling, natural language processing, data and image compression, advanced object oriented idioms in C++, constraint logic programming, parallel programming, cryptography, information theory, advanced topics in algorithms. Prior to 1995 -- Bayesian learning, topics in operating systems, pattern recognition, object-oriented methodologies and mechanisms, computer security, topics in artificial intelligence, topics in image processing, communications, advanced databases, denotational semantics, modern programming paradigms, graphics modelling, distributed computing.